Debate over change of CM in Karnataka only because of media, says Congress MLC Yathindra

Yathindra, Congress MLC, on Tuesday blamed the media for the ongoing debate over a change of Chief Minister in Karnataka.

Fielding questions from presspersons on Siddaramaiah’s reported statement that the party high command will take a call on whether he will continue as the Chief Minister, Mr. Yathindra said the debate on the issue is taking place only because of the media.

There will be no debate on the matter if the media does not rake up the issue, claimed Mr. Yathindra in Mysuru on Tuesday.

With regard to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s statement, Mr. Yathindra, his son, said, “Of course, if anyone has to continue in the Chief Minister’s post, the decision is left to the high command.”

Mr. Yathindra stated that there has been no discussion in the party about any such change. He said that he believes that there will be no change of Chief Minister in Karnataka as no such information has been given by the party high command to either Mr. Siddaramaiah or any other leader of the party.

When his attention was drawn to Congress leader K.N. Rajanna’s reported statement that Mr. Siddaramaiah was indispensable to the party, Mr. Yathindra said that Mr. Rajanna’s view is shared by several Congress leaders.

With regard to the call for a Dalit Chief Minister, Mr. Yathindra said that there were several leaders in the Congress who were eligible to become the Chief Minister, and added that it was not wrong for anybody to aspire for the post.

On Election Commission

Meanwhile, participating in a meeting of party workers of Tagadur Block in Varuna, Mr. Yathindra came down heavily against the Election Commission for not acting against the ruling BJP at the Centre for its alleged vote theft.

Though the Election Commission should not come under political influence and is expected to be fair and impartial, Mr. Yathindra alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was behaving like a “political operator”.

Instead of taking the complaints of vote theft by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders seriously, the CEC was resorting to “defaming” the complainants, he said.

Mr. Yathindra stated that the Election Commission had been “compromised” and mentioned that there was a threat to democracy if such institutions were misused by the government.